


Forbidden Room

by Repeatinglitanies



Series: Fairy Tales Told at the End of the World [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Don’t copy to another site, F/M, Pseudo-Incest, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-06-29 15:03:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19832683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Repeatinglitanies/pseuds/Repeatinglitanies
Summary: When Vanya finds herself homeless and jobless, her estranged brother Five offers her room and board in exchange for cleaning his spacious apartment. She's free to do anything and open any door, except for the master bedroom





	1. Chapter 1

Sometimes, Vanya wondered if she was just born unlucky. Because what exactly were the odds that of 43 children suddenly born to unwitting mothers, of the seven adopted by Reginald Hargreeves, she would be the only one without any discernible abilities whatsoever? She was honestly ashamed of revisiting that old wound. But life seemed to have a way of reminding her how much the odds were against her.

For the first few years of her life, there seemed to be nothing that separated her from her siblings. So she got to play with them. Number Five being her most constant and steadfast companion. But then everyone but her started manifesting powers. And before she knew it, she was left out of classes and training. Dad thought it was a waste of time to teach her how to deal with kidnappers, bank robbers and megalomaniacs. With six siblings fully trained to rescue her and any other civilians, Dad also saw no need to teach her self-defense techniques.

Slowly but surely, her siblings spent less and less time with her, even Number Five who rebelled against Dad at every turn and used to play house with her. He even told her that he would marry her one day. An endearing and treasured joke, in Vanya’s eyes. 

His distance hurt the worst. At first, Vanya wanted to believe that it was because Dad kept the whole team busy. By the time missions ended, her brothers and sister were back to training. The only time her siblings got to themselves was the half an hour every Saturday from noon to half past noon. While it hurt Vanya that it left them no time for her, she tried to understand that they needed that half hour to breathe and cool off. Not to spend it all on catch up with a sister who couldn’t begin to understand what Dad had put them through.

To be fair, Five initially had tried to spare some time to talk to her. He would jump to her room late at night to tell her all about the latest missions and his plans to visit Princeton, MIT and all the distinguished places of learning to glean whatever knowledge they had to offer on time travel. Five had tried to do it by himself once when they were 13 but ended up stuck three months in the future in the middle of Alaska. He almost lost a couple of fingers and toes as well as his life. He also got a full day’s lecture in the middle of recovery. In the end, the experience was enough to keep Five from attempting another time jump without further data. 

But as time passed, his obsession with time travel came back. And Vanya was left alone while Five spent his spare time writing equations on his bedroom wall. 

So all Vanya had left was her violin and plenty of time to practice it. In the deepest, most secret part of her heart, she believed that she had already attained the 10,000 hours required to master her craft. But with no one in the house aside from Mom and Pogo who would be willing to listen and were always so kind as to tell her that her performance was awesome, it was hard to attain the confidence to actually prove it to Dad and her siblings.

She never got the chance to show them. Five didn’t even wait for them to turn 17 before he left the house without a backward glance. Eventually, everyone except Luther moved out to live a life that didn’t involve an old man constantly reminding them of how they weren’t good enough.

For Vanya, living away from the only place she called home was a culture shock as much as a hardship. She never had to pay for anything before because everything she needed used to be simply provided for her. Now she had to think about earning money to pay bills, rent, food and other essentials. Dad insisted she stay in Hargreeves manor instead of getting a place of her own. When she refused, she was told not to expect any financial support from him.

In a rare fit of stubborness, Vanya stood her ground. And for a few weeks, she was in a constant state of anxiety about her future. She wanted to perform in a professional orchestra. There was something about being part of a group to create beautiful music together that appealed to her. Later, she would chalk it up to her unfulfilled desire to be a true member of the Umbrella Academy. But at the time, she couldn’t imagine wanting anything more than to be in an orchestra filled with skilled performers. But to do that, she had to finish her studies at the conservatory to learn from her talented and well-respected teachers and have enough time to practice to make the cut.

But if she had to use most of her time earning a living, she might as well kiss her dream goodbye.

So it was such a relief when she was informed that she received a scholarship which gave her a full ride and a monthly stipend.

It felt like she was getting a lucky break. And for a few years, it seemed that the luck held. Her hard work paid off when she was finally first chair of the city’s orchestra. Unfortunately and entirely without warning, a huge chunk of the moon fell to the earth and caused multiple natural disasters all over the world. And just as suddenly, Vanya found herself without a job or a home.

It wasn’t much of a surprise to know that Dad could survive the loss of the moon, the rising sea level, and the more than occasional hurricane. He had Pogo go to the shelter Vanya was currently residing in to pick her up and take her back to the mansion, which was also still standing. At that point, Vanya was too tired to muster up the anger and indignation at Dad’s presumption that she would just come crawling back.

Truth be told, she had briefly considered going back. The shelter was for people who had nowhere else to go. And Vanya staying there would be unfair to the others. Was it really so bad to live under the same roof as Dad? She would have three square meals a day, a bed to sleep on and a roof over her head. All she had to do was accede to Dad’s every command and live with a man who never forgot to remind her how inadequate she was even as she tried to do everything in her power to gain his regard.

Apparently, the old wound had never closed. And she was grateful for its reminder. Thus, despite Pogo’s well-meant advice to set aside her pride in order to ensure her survival, she stayed put. An hour after Pogo left the shelter, Vanya gathered her meager belongings and took to the streets. She couldn’t justify staying there when so many more needed it a lot more desperately than she did.

She played her violin on the streets in hopes that someone would toss her breadcrumbs. Sometimes it worked. And sometimes, she pretended that the music was all she needed to feel full. Things got dire enough that she had grown used to digging through trash for food.

It was at one such foraging venture when she bumped into Five. It had been ten years since he left home and since she last saw him. It was just her luck that he’d witness the lowest point of her life thus far.

___________

Not long after Five and his siblings debuted as crime-fighting superhero siblings, Reginald Hargreeves had a word with him in private about Vanya. The basic gist of it was to leave Vanya be and to focus on his studies and training. 

Of course, Five had no intention of following Dad’s advice. Dad wanted all members of the Academy to be solely devoted to the Academy. Anything that stood in the way of that was a distraction.

But to Five, Vanya wasn’t a distraction. She was one of the few things that kept him sane. This wasn’t to say that he didn’t take a certain level of enjoyment when he was participating in the missions. In fact, he felt great pleasure in showing everyone how easily he could subdue his opponents with his powers. Teleportation wasn’t normally seen as an offensive power. But his display soon demonstrated how much damage it can do if used properly in the right hands.

However, there came a point when even that became old. And all Five really wanted was for someone to see him as more than his father’s tool, more than a symbol of hope and fear. Someone to listen to him. Someone to understand. Someone who was genuinely happy to see him. Someone who wouldn’t think his dreams were delusions of grandeur.

Vanya was that someone for him. And there have been times when lying beside her while she stroked his hair and told him that he could do anything he put his mind to was the only thing that lulled him to sleep.

It would be far easier for Five to give up the hope of successful time travel than to give Vanya up.

But eventually, Dad found the right set of circumstances and the right words to convince Five.  
The Umbrella Academy had managed to successfully hunt down the Resslers, a family of murderers and thieves. Everything was going according to plan when the Ressler patriarch started spouting everything he knew about Vanya, a feat in itself considering Dad took great pains to keep Vanya out of public view. 

Five just saw red at the realization that Ressler’s filthy mouth was forming Vanya’s name. So instead of bringing Ressler out alive, Five shot him point blank.

The lecture he received afterwards was nothing compared to what Dad spewed out when he turned up three months in the future thanks to his botched time travel attempt. And it was merely a drop in the bucket compared to what Dad said next.

“Now do you see why you should keep your distance from Number Seven? The Umbrella Academy has made many enemies. Living in the Academy already makes her a target. But if the Academy shows no affection for her, our enemies will lose interest in her and she will no longer be a tool to be used against us.”

It pained Five to admit (at least to himself) that Dad was right. That didn’t compare to the hurt look on Vanya’s face when he refused to meet her eyes or when he would rush out of the classroom knowing full well she wanted to talk to him.

His renewed interest in time travel was the only thing distracting him from the loss of Vanya’s company. Eventually, he focused his energies and his goals on making his next attempt successful. To do that, he would need lots of money which would buy him the connections and the equipment needed to achieve his goals.

Dad never approved of time travel no matter how much Five showed him he had grown stronger and better at his control. So it looked like Five would have to rely on himself to secure funds.

But no matter what he did, his thoughts eventually lead back to Vanya. He worried about leaving her all alone. He knew Vanya wanted to perform on stage. That she wanted to show everyone that she could be extraordinary. But Dad seemed determined to keep her down.

Five never understood it. Sure, Vanya didn’t have powers. But Vanya didn’t need powers to be special. With Reginald’s daily carping about how ordinary she was, it was a wonder how Vanya hadn’t just lain down in a ditch somewhere and given up. Instead, she kept practicing. Every chance Five got, he would listen (in secret) to her performance and note how her perseverance had borne fruit. It was amazing. And she deserved to share her gift to the world and finally get the praise and recognition that was long denied her.

But while Dad seemed to reiterate how Vanya was the one person he couldn’t care less about, she was the one Dad was most interested in keeping in the Academy. Outsiders could interpret it as the actions of an overprotective father. But Five didn’t think so.  
Dad was a control freak. And with their 17th birthday coming around, Reginald Hargreeves wanted to show that he still had the Academy in hand. Dad might not have considered Vanya to be part of the Academy. But he still bought and paid for her like the rest of them. And like any other item he purchased, he expected her to stay in line with his wishes. For Vanya who almost everyone in the house considered the weakest link to stand up to him, that would only signal to the others that they can easily follow suit. And Reginald Hargreeves had no plans to dissolve the Academy he so painstakingly built.

In the end, Five gave him no choice by leaving ahead of time. By paving the way, he knew he had only made it easier for his siblings (except Luther) to follow his lead.

It pained him to leave without a final goodbye to Vanya. But it was better this way. If the enemies he made in the course of his time with the Umbrella Academy found out of his soft spot for his powerless, defenseless sister, Vanya would be the one to take the brunt of the suffering his enemies actually wanted to inflict on him.

Because he defied Dad so openly, he left without a dime to his name. It was not an issue to him because he had already developed a system to win against the largest casinos the country had to offer. Needless to say, his winnings were the cornerstone of his current wealth that afforded him several properties (including a spacious apartment at the better part of the city) and time enough to focus on solving the mystery of safe time travel.

As much as he devoted every waking moment to this obsession, it never could fill the Vanya-shaped hole in his heart. He would check up on her now and then. To be more accurate, not a day went by when he wasn’t checking up on her. The weeks he spent launching his attack on the casinos was the only exception. And he never got over that. Because while he did return with piles of money, he came back to his home city to find Vanya struggling to make ends meet. At least it was easy enough to solve her problem. She needed money and he just came upon a huge sum. Vanya got a scholarship and a stipend. And Five got to still be in her life, albeit in the furthest periphery.

But it seemed that wasn’t enough for him. It took him a few more years to realize that Vanya was and still is the one thing that he truly wanted. Of course, actually spending time with her was out of the question. So he had to resort to being something of a creepy stalker, attending her performances in secret, waiting for her to get in or out of her apartment building just to get a glimpse of her as she started or ended her day. 

Holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving were the hardest. He knew she had no one to spend it with, just like him. But he still didn’t even try to reach out. By then, he was no longer concerned by what his enemies might do. He and Vanya had not been in direct contact for years. And more than facing thugs and weirdos out for his blood, he was terrified of Vanya’s rejection, even one as seemingly innocuous as spending the holidays with him.

Five was such an arrogant little shit back then. He envied his younger self who would not have any doubts that Vanya would be willing to spend time with him.

Then again, his younger self didn’t have as much dreams of Vanya as he did now. It was the longing that was getting to him. When he was younger, he just wanted to be close to her, hear her voice, and see that gentle smile she made just for him. But now, Five realized he wanted more than that.

He wanted her in his life, in his arms and in his bed. Five wanted to hold her hand while they walked the city streets, to present her with flowers and to tell her that her latest performance was the most marvelous thing he had seen and heard. 

And in the cold, lonely nights on his spacious bed, he wanted to be inside her as she sighed out his name in pleasure.

Initially, he had turned to alcohol to console him from his entirely unrequited love for his sister. It got so bad that he started blacking out, not knowing what exactly he’d done the past night. Five wasn’t concerned. He always woke up alone on his bed. Sometimes, the equations he jotted down on his whiteboard and other available surfaces would have nonsensical symbols tacked on to it. But he didn’t entirely mind.

It all changed on the day he received a special delivery he didn’t remember ever ordering online or in person.

Needless to say, he was horrified to discover what his over-reliance on alcohol wrought.

After that, Five never touched another bottle again.

But in hindsight, that wasn’t such a big sacrifice. Because he soon found another form of consolation from his self-imposed separation from Vanya.

So while he couldn’t say he was happy, Five was content. His daily life consisted of making money (the casinos banned him for life so he resorted to a higher and more respectable form of gambling: stock and fund investment), working on his equations, getting glimpses of Vanya as she went about her day and then, at night, he would indulge in his latest addiction.

But who could have predicted that the moon would blow up, crash a huge part of itself on earth, kill and displace thousands of people? 

Five had enough money and resources to take care of himself. But Vanya was another matter. She lost her job and her home in a span of a few days. 

Five had hoped that she would see reason and go back to Hargreeves manor at least temporarily. While he understood how insufferable Dad is, Five was also a practical soul at heart. 

But Vanya was not one to give up her hard-won freedom. Instead of going back with Pogo, she took to the streets. Five admired her for it as much as he wanted to shake her for her risky behavior.

He had hoped that a few days on the streets would provide a change of perspective. But as he witnessed her taking rotten food from a garbage bin, he found that he was the one changing his mind.

Vanya didn’t have to say anything for him to understand the way she was looking at him. It was a look that both asked what he was doing here and what did he want from her.

Five had to think fast. Years of living in independence made Vanya proud. There was a reason she was on the streets instead of asking Five or any of their other siblings for help. She didn’t want to be seen as a charity case. 

“I heard that your apartment building was destroyed and the city orchestra went out of business. I have a job offer. It comes with room and board. And before you think I’m doing this out of pity, you have to take a look at the state of my apartment.”

It was actually true. Five lived alone and didn’t trust anyone enough to let them in his home to clean it. With Five being busy, the only area he managed to keep relatively clean was his room. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Vanya only needed to take one glance at his apartment entrance to conclude that Five seriously needed help to not only clean but also to de-clutter his apartment.

Five inwardly sighed in relief. Now for the second part.

“A few ground rules. You can make use of anything here. You can enter any room, except for the master bedroom. I’ll be cleaning it myself. So you don’t need to worry about that room. The rest would be up to you. Feel free to use the credit card to buy what you would need, whether its groceries or clothes for yourself. I don’t really care about much as long as you get this apartment clean and you leave my room alone.”

Five could tell that Vanya had so many questions racing in her head. It was a good thing she thought better of voicing them.

So began the months of sweet torture. 

Five was happy to see her every day and share meals with her. It reminded him of the old days when they would play house where she was the wife making his favorite snack and telling him to work hard. 

But having her near gave him an almost constant hard-on. During the day, she would be focused on organizing and cleaning the apartment. He would try to focus on his project. But his eyes would only end up wandering and settling on certain parts of her anatomy. 

It didn’t matter what she wore. His eyes would eventually land on her mouth, her chest and her ass. And not necessarily in that order.

At first, he thought that sharing space with Vanya would finally allow him to get over his addiction. But that wasn’t the case.

Having Vanya close but not being able to touch her the way he wanted only made him more dependent. He wanted to tell her how much the years apart weighed on him, how much he missed her and wanted to be a part of her life forever. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Five told himself that somehow his enemies would find out if he ever uttered the words. But if he was being honest with himself, he was just afraid that she would reveal that she didn’t feel the same way or that it was too late.

So the things he wanted to tell Vanya, the things he wanted to do to and with Vanya, he reserved them for the other occupant of his master bedroom, which he kept locked at all times with the curtains firmly shut. He may live at the very top of a high rise apartment complex. But Five was a paranoid bastard. He would literally rather die than risk his secret be revealed.

With Vanya in the same apartment, a lot of issues started plaguing him. What if she ran out of things to do and left because she didn’t want to be considered a charity case? What if she heard the sounds he made at night after a long day of watching her work? And what if she found out that his nightly companion and outlet of sexual frustration was an anatomically correct sex doll custom made to look exactly like her?

He couldn’t sleep. So he brushed the other Vanya’s hair away from her face, spread her legs and plunged deep inside her.


	2. Chapter 2

It seemed a remarkable coincidence that at Vanya’s lowest point, Five seemingly appeared out of nowhere to help her out. By the time he found her digging through what she would have once called garbage for food, she had already run out of Dad’s pills. The only good thing to have come out of living on the streets was that she now knew she didn’t need her medication. Vanya actually felt much better without them if she didn’t consider the cold and constant hunger.  


Try as she might, she couldn’t trick her body into thinking that she could go on without food or shelter. So Vanya started wondering if she should just sell her body for sustenance and/or a warm place to sleep. 

The thought would have once horrified her. But now, it was just another price she was willing to pay if it meant being free from Reginald Hargreeves’ control. Looking back, she was grateful to the anonymous donor that made her scholarship possible. Without it, Vanya didn’t think her seventeen-year old self could have held onto her independence for much longer. She would have returned to Hargreeves manor with the proverbial tail between her legs. Being at her wit’s end with figuring out how to survive the outside world alone, her younger self would have sooner or later been overwhelmed with trying to hold on to a paying job while finding time to practice her violin. She would have had to make a compromise. Vanya certainly wouldn’t have been able to do both without sacrificing the quality of her work or her performance. So it was such a relief to get that scholarship and stipend.

It allowed her to pursue her dreams. True, she was no longer in an orchestra. But at least, she knew what it was like to perform on stage and be a part of something beautiful. She would always remember that with fondness regardless of how it ended.

Living on the streets must have took its toll on Vanya because the mere sight of Five after all these years, made her feel weak in the knees. He was no longer the gangly, overly-confident boy she remembered. She felt a wave of irritation as she gawked at him. It was just like Five to be dressed in an immaculate suit even while everything around him was in shambles and ruins, Vanya included.

The way he looked at her didn’t leave any doubt that he was there for her. 

But for some unfathomable reason, she remembered the Julia Roberts’ film Pretty Woman. And then her thoughts somehow went to an article she read many months ago. About how a couple of scientists introduced the concept of money to lab monkeys. 

The monkeys soon learned that they could use the silver discs the scientists gave them as currency they could use to exchange for food. One of the highlights of the study showed that the introduction of currency also indirectly brought about prostitution among the test subjects, which the scientists soon found out after they observed one monkey giving another the silver disc right after they had intercourse.

What were the chances Five would come into her life again the moment she started thinking of using sex to survive?

Vanya wanted to slam her head repeatedly on the nearby concrete wall for her totally inappropriate thoughts. They grew up together. Hell, she even vaguely remembered their nannies bathing them together as four-year-olds. She concluded that hunger and surviving on the streets did funny things to the mind.

Five would never offer such an indecent proposal. Though Vanya wasn’t so sure she wouldn’t accept if he did.

But she pushed that thought aside. This was Five, her brother. For all his excessive pride and sense of entitlement, Five wasn’t heartless or cruel. He didn’t derive any pleasure in hurting others. Even until now, she had always believed that his moving away from her was never meant to hurt her. He simply outgrew her in every sense of the word. It hurt her nonetheless but she never once thought of his distance as one born out of malice.

So she prepared to hear him out. At first, his offer of room and board in exchange for cleaning his penthouse apartment sounded like him taking pity on her. But upon entering his home and seeing all sorts of clutter at the entrance, Vanya was convinced that Five became even more eccentric in the years after he left the house. 

The walls were filled with his chalk-written equations. Books, boxes and papers filled and covered almost every available surface. The kitchen and dining area were overrun with takeout boxes.

Well, at least Vanya had actual work to do and she’d actually feel like she was earning her keep with this mess. And for the most part, being Five’s housekeeper wasn’t that complicated. He allowed her to do as she saw fit. He made no protests as she wiped away the equations from his walls and threw out boxes that he had no use for. 

Vanya could feel his eyes on her whenever she worked. It didn’t bother her. He was probably just taking a break from his work to see how her job was coming about. In any case, he’d immediately go back to his off-limits bedroom after he was satisfied that Vanya was doing a good job.

Despite their years of separation, it didn’t take long for Vanya to get used to living with Five again. During mealtimes, they would talk about what they’d been doing since they last saw each other. At first, Five was taciturn but he eventually filled in the gaps, telling her of how he managed to earn, or rather gamble, enough to buy the things he now owned.

So all in all, she was feeling really happy to spend time with Five again. Yes, she said this even as she observed that he may have gotten weirder with age. He pretty much channeled Bluebeard when he told her that she can use and clean every room in his big apartment except for the master bedroom, which was unsurprisingly his bedroom. 

At first,Vanya surmised that Five had all sorts of top-secret experiments going on in his room. To be honest, it wasn’t a stretch of the imagination that Five could grow up to be some sort of mad scientist.

But then one day, she accidentally opened a package that she thought was meant for her. She only realized her mistake when she discovered the box contained several pairs of lacy undergarments. Five’s appearance could not have been any more ill-timed. He quickly snatched the package and teleported away from her.

Neither of them spoke much or looked the other in the eye during dinner. Vanya tried to start a conversation only to stop as she opened her mouth. All the icebreakers her mind came up with became lame as soon as she started. She imagined she looked like a fish gasping for air. It was a good thing Five was focused on his food.

So Five was secretly a cross-dresser. It made her a little sad to know that she had been lumped in together with other people in Five’s eyes. Didn’t Five know that he could tell her anything and she would never hold it against him? Back in their younger days, she could go in and out of his room without announcing her presence. And they could easily tell the other some of the most embarrassing things to have happened to them without fear of being ridiculed. But she tried to be more philosophical about it. They were no longer kids after all. And everyone was entitled to their own secrets, those that remained in the bedroom or otherwise. Besides, the bedroom was the most personal part of the home. It should remain uninvaded. Vanya herself would want to keep her own quarters private and away from prying eyes.

The avoidance and silence continued on for a few days until Vanya suddenly got an idea and forced herself to go to Five for help.

Money was not a big issue for Five. While she was in charge of shopping for groceries and any other necessities for the both of them, he provided the funds to make the acquisition possible. With the rising price of vegetables and fruits caused by the higher cost of transporting them to the city, it was a relief to know Five had more than enough money to pay for it. 

She felt guilty for having to spend such an exorbitant price for food. So she made sure to save as much of the seeds as possible. Her plan was to plant them for future use so that they wouldn’t have to rely elsewhere for their nutrition.

But when she found out that Five actually owned the whole apartment building, her plan expanded. She thought of the people at the shelter and on the streets. They would need food too. If she could grow food within the city, then it would be more affordable for potential consumers living in the city.

Vanya had no idea how to produce enough to feed more people. So she asked Five for help. She was glad that giving Five a problem to solve had him forgetting the lingerie incident. 

To her surprise, Five gave her a whole floor to use for growing food. He even helped out with hiring people to design the space to make it suitable for planting a garden. 

And that was the start of how she and Five became urban farmers and business partners. 

When the space was ready, Vanya felt so thrilled that she almost embraced Five. But of course, she managed to stop herself. Five had a thing about protecting his personal space.

The garden delighted Vanya for a number of reasons. It made her happy that she could actually make a difference and help people. She also got to spend more time with Five.

And it didn’t hurt that Five would help out with the manual labor. Vanya made sure that she would only glance at him when he wasn’t looking. But it took massive amounts of self-control to peel her eyes away especially when his shirt revealed the contours of his toned body.

\-------------------

Five couldn’t believe he actually became a farmer. A part of him still had this feeling of unreality at this new development. But with Vanya almost constantly at his side, he didn’t have much time to dwell on it. All his thoughts were diverted by Vanya’s proximity to his person, something he never thought he could ever have again.

More often than not, he’d have the urge to brush errant strands of hair away from her face or place his hand on her waist.

Worst of all was his dreams and fantasies. Having a life sized sex doll the same exact height and features as Vanya (it was in fact custom built to look like Vanya) still required a certain amount of imagination to maintain the illusion.

Like all of its kind, its mimicry of humanity is exactly what gave the other Vanya her bizarre quality. But while it repulsed him, the other Vanya would be the closest he could get to being with Vanya the way he wished. So he adapted. He trained his mind to ignore the other Vanya’s constant half-smile. How she wouldn’t be able to give voice to any opinions. How she wouldn’t be able to initiate or reciprocate any show of affection. 

All the other Vanya could do was receive his reactions to a day spent with the real Vanya.

Five remembered the day he opened his mysterious package. More than shock at seeing Vanya’s face, he was horrified by his irrepressible longing for the real Vanya. He had no memories of ever purchasing the doll. So at first, he thought that he’d been hacked and someone was playing a sick joke at his expense.

But he thought better of it. Five changed his passwords by the day. And he kept them in his head. The only one who could have done this was himself. More specifically, his drunken self. Because Five needed to have been completely drunk to even consider buying a sex doll. He may have money. But he didn’t need a sex doll when his hand could achieve almost the same result.

Five remembered thinking that he should throw the other Vanya away. But the manufacturer was a master at his craft. While Five could see the subtle difference between a likeness and the real Vanya, the doll looked enough like Vanya that he didn’t have the heart to discard it.

So before the real Vanya came to live with him, the other Vanya was his constant confidante and companion. Admittedly, her responses were all in his head. But he managed to make the relationship (for the lack of a better term) work. 

He would buy her clothes that he knew the real Vanya would wear. But since Five didn’t know what type of undergarments the real Vanya had, he settled for buying ones that he thought would look good on her. Five nearly had a heart attack upon seeing Vanya with his package of lingerie. He fruitlessly wished it would be out of Vanya’s mind as soon as it was out of her sight. But he knew better. Vanya must think him some sort of pervert but was just trying to spare his feelings by not voicing it out.

When he had to clean the other Vanya, he would imagine he was actually bathing the real Vanya. And he would end up wasting water by having to clean the other Vanya up again. Sometimes, he disgusted even himself with his libido.

Ever since they started working on the farm, Vanya became livelier. A lot more than he remembered. If he thought his attraction to her couldn’t get any stronger, then he was mistaken. Sometimes, in the middle of planting and in the midst of employees they hired to help out, he couldn’t help but revisit images of Vanya’s sweat soaked white shirt leaving almost nothing to the imagination. He would then fantasize about ordering everyone out and having his way with her in the middle of their garden.

Of course, that would never happen. 

So he waited until late at night and spent all the pent up passion and frustration on the other Vanya. When it was over, he found himself on top of her and wishing (not for the first or last time) that she could move, put her arms around him and tell him that everything will be fine. Better yet, he wished it was the real Vanya there with him.

__________________

Vanya awoke to the sound of Five’s voice calling out her name. At first, she thought that he was in her room. But there was no one when she switched on the lights. Just to make sure, she stood up and opened her door. Five was nowhere in sight.

Perhaps she just dreamt it all up. Vanya was about to go back to sleep when she heard it again.

“Vanya! Fuck! You’re amazing. I love you.”

And then the idea jumped up to her. She could feel the blush forming on her face. He was thinking about her while he came. The thought excited her. It made her wonder what would happen if she knocked on his door and asked if she could join him.

She might have actually done it too. Except Five’s bedroom was a couple of doors plus one spacious living room down. And the walls in the apartment were thick. Sound couldn’t have carried that far.

And Vanya knew she didn’t imagine Five’s voice this time.

So what was going on? More to the point, what was going on with her?


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Five had just come out of his room to find Vanya waiting just outside. And it made him feel like he just jumped out of his own skin. He quickly looked behind him to make sure the bedroom door was firmly shut before staring back at her. Five hoped his poker face was still in place. But the look on Vanya’s face confirmed that he was anything but calm.

“I need to tell you something,” she said in a voice laced with concern.

Shit!

Nothing good comes out of that tone of voice. 

Five may have the power to avoid danger. But never in his life had he backed down from a challenge or run away from a fight. Even as a kid, his utmost confidence in himself had told him he was capable of anything, that any adversity can surely be overcome, and that he can fulfill any wish he’d kept deep inside him. 

But that confidence dissolved into dust when it came to Vanya. It didn’t use to. He had thought they would be together until the very end. But that was until he realized that he lead a dangerous life and put a target on Vanya’s back just by being near her.

When enough years had passed and enough distance from Dad had been managed, Five slowly regained the confidence to believe he could protect Vanya and that his intellect, abilities and money would be more than enough to take care of her. 

But by then it was too late. The years he needed to amass power and wealth were the same years Vanya had to learn to live without him. And all those years, he had never contacted her. Sure, he watched over her. But he made sure Vanya never knew it.

Vanya must have hated him for abandoning her at Hargreeves manor. For never even sending a greeting card or doing anything to show that he was at least thinking about her.

If he came back into her life after years of no contact, he would have no doubt she would want nothing to do with him. So rather than taking the risk of possible rejection, he cowardly decided not to try at all.

It had to take a huge chunk of the moon landing on earth and causing a lot of upheavals to get him to face Vanya again. And now, he felt that at least they were no longer strangers who used to know each other. After months of living and working together, they were friends again. 

But he felt that whatever she was about to tell him would jeopardize that.

Five tried to calm himself. He tried to tell himself that he was just being paranoid. He felt guilty for using the other Vanya while the real one was sleeping under the same roof. And that guilt made him uneasy, made him see potential problems where there might be none.

Vanya had already made coffee and presented him with a steaming mug. The aroma should have been an invitation to sip. But he didn’t dare reach out for the beverage placed neatly on the table. His hands were shaking. And Five really didn’t want Vanya to ask about that.

“Five, I’m not really sure how to start. So bear with me,” Vanya hesitated and it only heightened his anxiety. 

He was starting to think this conversation would be aborted when out of the blue, she blurted out, “Last night, I heard you from your bedroom-”

That was all Five needed to hear to trigger his fight or flight response. And for the first time in living memory, he chose flight. Five was not ready to hear whatever Vanya had to say. He wanted time to cease. Or at least to have more time to be with her. He knew running away would not solve his myriad issues with Vanya. But he was no longer listening to the logical side of his brain. Because he decided to take off anyway.

The telltale blue light that signaled the use of his powers swallowed him up and did as he bid, transporting him anywhere away from his apartment.

_______________

At first, Vanya was more shocked than angry. Upon reflection, it might not have been wise to tell Five that she heard him crying out her name in what was unmistakably “the throes of passion,” as the romance novels would put it. She had embarrassed him. And he needed some time to compose himself.

But on the other hand, she was tired of having to walk on eggshells around him and their other siblings, of dancing to their tune and living her life based on what they needed. Back when they were teenagers, Five outgrew her. He didn’t want to hang out with her anymore and she let him do that.

Now she realized that their separation wasn’t because they simply had different goals in life. He was ashamed of her. More specifically, he was ashamed of being attracted to the powerless, useless and weakest member of the Hargreeves family (the term family is used very loosely in this case).

Dad never forgot to tell her that she was an embarrassment. To be fair, those weren’t his exact words. But to be the only ordinary member of a household where everyone else had qualities that set them apart from the average human and to be told this every day of her formative years, it basically amounted to being a source of shame and scorn at least in the eyes of the people she had lived with.

Vanya never thought Five saw her this way until now.

The old Vanya would have quietly gone back to her room and played her violin, hoping that the melody she picked out would soothe her. But she had enough of that. 

So she headed to the master bedroom. Surely, Five must have sent himself there. It was his sanctuary, after all. Vanya didn’t care if Five fired her or kicked her out. He didn’t get to make her feel small. She had survived and thrived living in the outside world. The Umbrella Academy might see her as worthless. But it didn’t get to dictate how she saw herself.

Outside, she could see the darkened sky that quickly spilled out a heavy downpour. Just as suddenly, there was a flash of lightning that preceded the ominous sound of thunder. Vanya had half a mind to kick the bedroom door down. But she thought better of it. She liked Five’s apartment. Having been in charge of the cleaning and upkeep of the place, she didn’t have the heart to destroy any part of it. Though truth be told, Vanya doubted she would have succeeded in breaking the door down in the first place. She was more likely to break her foot in the attempt.

Instead, she turned the knob even while fully expecting it to be locked. But to her surprise, it opened readily enough to reveal a cluttered room. So much for Five keeping it clean and organized. 

Upon switching on the lights, Vanya saw that Five had papers everywhere. His walls were again filled with chalk-written equations. She expected more books and more papers as she got further inside. And to some extent she was right.

She wasn’t prepared for the board though. It was filled with pictures of her, most of them coming from flyers and articles highlighting her performances. There were also ticket stubs pinned up. And to her shock, there were her letters to the anonymous donor, the person who made it possible for her to finish school.

So it was Five all along.

Then why was he ashamed? Sure, the Five she knew would have been mortified to know that she heard him masturbating while thinking of her. But it was hardly something he would run away from.

But as if in silent answer to her question, she ventured further into the room to find his bed and the figure lying on it.

“Oh,” was all she could say as she stared at an exact replica of her, wearing nothing more than the lacy underwear that made her think Five was a crossdresser.

_____________

Five had teleported himself to the farm. Or to be more precise, the floor they had converted into a farm. He should get back to Vanya and explain everything. Not lying low and hiding and hoping she’d just forget about it.

He tried to think of a strategy that would convince her to stay. But nothing came to mind. How do you convince your best friend that you aren’t a pervert when she heard you masturbating and moaning out her name?

The good thing was that Vanya didn’t know about the other Vanya. So maybe he could salvage the situation. He didn’t remember everything he said out loud last night. But maybe he could just make up an excuse. Say that he was just really horny and his mouth just blurted the words out.. 

It happened sometimes. He should probably say that he sometimes said Allison’s name too. So while, yes, he may be a pervert. He wasn’t a pervert with malicious designs on her person. Well, that sounded unconvincing, even to his ears.

Five never knew the day would come. But here it was. He finally admitted to himself that he was an idiot.

In the end, he decided to jump directly to his bedroom. He wasn’t any closer to an explanation that didn’t sound so lame. But he was frustrated and anxious. He needed the other Vanya. Because it looked like she would be his sole comfort for the rest of his life.

The master bedroom was just as he left it. At least, it seemed that way. He didn’t bother turning on the lights. First, he made sure to listen if Vanya was anywhere near his door. No sounds of footsteps or breathing outside the door. 

He shed his clothes as he made his way to the bed. The other Vanya was just as he left her, tucked into the electric blanket to keep her warm and to sustain the illusion that he was fucking a living, breathing human.

He took the blanket away as he felt for the clasp that held her bra together. But he ran out of patience for that and just shoved up the scraps of fabric that encased her breasts. She had looked great in the lingerie he picked for her but it was dark and he didn’t need any more reminders that a sex doll in Vanya’s image was all he’d ever have. 

The electric blanket had kept her warm. And he liked the feel of her skin against his. It seemed different from their previous encounters. But he chose to ignore it.

He might well truly be losing the real Vanya soon. And with his abstinence of alcohol, he wasn’t going to deny himself the only consolation he had left.

Five had barely started to lick one pebbled nipple when he heard a sound coming from the other Vanya. 

____________

Vanya couldn’t believe she was doing this. But if she was being honest with herself, she had wanted this for a very long time. Five acquired a sex doll that looked just like her, had been observing her since she left the Academy. 

That might have made him look like a creepy, obsessed stalker to many. 

But not to her. Because he had helped her make her own way in the world. When Reginald Hargreeves refused to pay her tuition, Five was the one who came to her rescue and asked nothing in return. He had secretly gone to all her performances and let her live her own life while he watched over her from afar. 

When she was without a home or a job, he was the one who helped her out. He could have dictated her every move while she lived in his home. But he did not. When she came up with a crazy plan to start a vegetable garden big enough to feed the city, he supported her. Didn’t even try to dissuade her.

To Vanya, that spoke of a person who loved her. 

Everything clicked into place when she saw the doll on his bed. 

Five wanted her. But for whatever reason, he thought he couldn’t have her. Vanya wanted to prove him wrong.

She just hoped that she didn’t give him a heart attack by taking the Vanya doll’s place. The whole time she waited while covered in his sheets in nothing more than a matching bra and panty set, Vanya debated whether she should just give up, chalk this up as her worst idea ever and then just talk to Five the next day. Hopefully, he’d be more prepared to hear her out. 

Vanya might have started it out badly. But she wanted Five to be the first to know. She had powers after all. It took decades to show itself but it was there. At first, she couldn’t believe it. But hearing Five go at it again, Vanya knew that she would be a fool to doubt it. 

She would have been giddy with joy. Alternatively, she would have gotten up from her bed, jumped for joy or do something to celebrate that not only did Five feel the same way about her, she had powers all along. She actually belonged.

But she didn’t do any of those things. Because she was too busy touching herself while imagining Five exploring every inch of her as the sound of his pleasure made her heat rise.

That was what dominated her mind as she peeled her clothes off and put on the doll’s lingerie. Vanya stashed the doll and her clothes beneath the bed and lay down. It was a long wait. With no other company than her thoughts, doubt started to creep in. Suddenly, taking the doll’s place sounded like a very bad idea.

So of course, Five had to appear right at that time. She hoped he only came back to get something and go.

When she heard the sound of clothes sliding off skin, of his heart beating fast, of his footsteps approaching the bed, she was torn between dismay and relief.

He tried to unhook the bra one-handed before he changed his mind by pulling it up enough to free her breasts. She managed to stifle a gasp. But then the heat of his tongue touched the tip of her breast and Vanya made a decision.

Vanya could pinpoint the exact moment Five realized who was on his bed. And she did not give him the chance to pull away from her. Not now. Not ever again.

____________

“Don’t stop.”

There was a split second when Five thought he must have gone crazy. But with her warm hands caressing his face, he decided he could live with permanent insanity if it meant being with her like this forever. 

Five went back to his ministrations on her breasts, alternating from one to the other, spreading licks, sucks, nips and kisses all over her chest. All the while, she seemed to be holding onto him for dear life with one hand at his scalp and the other on his bicep. In his rush to get rid of her underwear, he may have torn the fabric. It certainly sounded like it couldn’t be used as proper underwear anymore. 

He wanted to be inside her so badly. But he wanted to treat himself to the things the other Vanya couldn’t give him. So he moved up, peppering kisses on her chest and neck until he finally reached her mouth and found out what she tasted like.

He then went back down again until he reached the juncture between her thighs, which she spread for him readily enough. Five found out she tasted just as sweet there.

He also discovered that there was no sound better than hearing her cry out his name as she reached her peak. 

Five was ready now. His cock was hard and gearing to make its way inside her when he froze.

“Shit, Vanya! Fuck! I don’t have condoms. Could you stay here? I’ll just need to get-”

But he was cut off by the sound of Vanya giggling.

“What-”

Vanya grabbed hold of him as he made to rise from bed.

“Sorry! It was just so funny! Were you planning to teleport naked to the nearest drug store? It’s ok. I’m safe. I did the math before I put on the Victoria Secret underwear. This is a safe week.”

Five was about to say something when he found himself flat on his back. Vanya straddling him, telling him not to move as she licked a nipple, made a sensuous path down, detoured to his navel and then finally reached his groin.

Vanya had a wicked mouth. And he enjoyed the attention. But at least for now, he wanted to finish as he kissed her, with his tongue in her mouth as her walls clenched around his cock. 

It seemed that Vanya had the same idea.

Five couldn’t remember feeling this happy. 

They didn’t leave his room for the rest of the day. 

\-------------------

It was already 7 in the evening when they decided that a bath was in order. They were lounging in his enormous bathtub, Vanya seated between his legs and leaning back on him, when they finally had their heart to heart and Vanya finally got the chance to tell him what she discovered last night.

“But why would they manifest now?”

Vanya may have been confused. But for Five, who had observed Vanya for a very long time, the answer came to him almost instantly.

“I think it’s the pills. They suppressed your powers.”

She turned her head to look at him in confusion. She had stopped taking the pills months before she started hearing things she shouldn’t have been able to hear. She told him so. But Five remained convinced it was the pills.

“Think about it. Remember when our first supplier misplaced our seeds? A thunderstorm appeared right after you found out. And remember what Paul told us? The vegetables are growing fast. A little too fast. I never connected the dots because I believed what Dad said. But now that we know it isn’t true, a lot of things make sense now.”

The realization made Five angry. Reginald Hargreeves lied to everyone and even told Vanya to her face that she was an ordinary girl even while knowing she was anything but. He suspected that Reginald feared Vanya’s powers. Most likely, dear old Dad had no way of controlling a powered-up Vanya so he decided to essentially sedate her for the rest of her life. He even used Vanya being defenseless as an excuse for Five to stay away from her.

“I want to kill him, Vanya.”

“What? No!”

Vanya knew who Five was talking about. She understood it was Reginald Hargreeves who kept her powerless and believing it all this time. Yes, she was hurt and it was tempting to give Dad a piece of her mind. But she didn’t want Five to do something he couldn’t take back.

“I want to kill him too, to be honest. But don’t you see? If we go after him or somehow make contact with him, sooner or later we end up back in the Umbrella Academy. And that’s what he wants. For you to go on being his little soldier and for me to stay locked up in that mansion. The best way to get back at him is for us to prove that we can survive together without him. So tell me, are you with me?”

With Vanya’s earnest face and her eyes shining with hope, how could Five refuse? So he didn’t.

They soon got out of the tub and back to bed again.

THE END


End file.
